


The Holidays Have Just Begun

by aj_linguistik



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Gen, Holidays, One Shot, Reader is gender neutral, Reader-Insert, first person POV, holiday party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_linguistik/pseuds/aj_linguistik
Summary: You've just gotten an invite to a holiday party- but instead of being at someone's house, you're in ALO, attending the party in your avatar. Asuna's excited to have everyone come. Your only wish is that it could last just a little bit longer.
Kudos: 6





	The Holidays Have Just Begun

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The last of my winter/holiday requests, this one is for Tumblr user johnnytheepic. I've only ever done one fic before with a reader-insert, so this was a bit of a fun little challenge! I hope you enjoy having a little party with the SAO gang! The reader is genderless/pronounless, so feel free to imagine any gender/presentation/ALO race you like!

As you’re walking home from school, your phone vibrates in your pocket. Since you’re on the train, you slip it out and check the notification, curious if it’s a friend texting or just your mom telling you what to do about dinner. To your delight, it’s a group text. You flip it open to see a few people have already responded to the initial message. It looks like Asuna’s invited everyone over to the log cabin for a small holiday party in ALO. Lisbeth spammed the chat with a bunch of excited emojis, and a few confirmations had already been sent from Sinon, Leafa, and Klein. You think about how much homework you have to do for a moment, and then, with a shrug, you decide that it’s just one day. You deserve to hang out with your friends, especially for the holidays.

With your confirmation typed up and sent, you smile and pocket your phone just in time to get off at your train stop. If you hurry and get a decent amount of homework done, you won’t have as much to worry about when you head to the ALO party later. You speed down the sidewalk at a quicker pace than usual, already feeling excited to have some much-needed break time from all of the school stress. Racing into your home, you barely stop long enough to slip into your house slippers and then you dash past the kitchen to grab a snack before you head into your room. You check the time. You have a couple of hours before the party.

In that time, you complete as much homework as you can, checking off each subject’s work as you go in your planner. You get a lot more done than you thought you would have; perhaps the motivation of the holiday party gave you more energy. When you’re finally closing the last tab on your homework readings, you breathe out a sigh of relief and turn your head to look at your Amusphere, sitting there on the headboard of your bed, waiting to be turned on. With an eager grin, you change into some more comfortable clothes for diving, crawl onto the bed after closing your door and putting a note on it for your family, and then you slip the Amusphere over your eyes. You say the two magic words that will take you to Alfheim, and before you know it, you’re materializing in the living area, receiving a smile from Asuna and Sinon, who are setting up the coffee table with little decorations.

“Oh, you’re a little early!” Asuna says. “Good! Can you take care of some of the decorations? Lisbeth was supposed to be here by now, but she’s running a little late because her mom needed her to do something.”

You’re eager to help, so you ask her what decorations need taking care of. As it turns out, they’ve purchased pretty much everything the game had to offer in the ways of holiday decorations. There were wreaths, decorative candles that burned in different colors to resemble holiday string lights, more traditional candles, lots of red and green ribbons and garlands, strings of popcorn, and candy canes. Asuna has even gone through the trouble of making everyone holiday outfits that fit with their ALO races. She gives you yours, and you equip it quickly to get in the spirit of the party.

Decorating goes fairly easy in ALO. All one has to do is hold something up to the wall and then press a button on the menu to say that it was where you wanted it. You take care of the wall decorations; Lisbeth and Silica show up a little after you and insist on putting up a tree by themselves. Sinon catches your eyes and rolls hers as Silica accidentally wrapps herself up in tree garlands. You can’t help but giggle at the sight. You’re stuck between untangling Silica and possibly taking a screenshot. In the end, Klein shows up and takes care of the issue—only to get himself stuck.

Alice and Eugeo are the next to arrive, closely followed by Agil. They get to work immediately, making sure everything is in place. By the time Kirito and Leafa arrive, most of the work was done. Sinon immediately accuses Kirito of trying to get out of sharing the work, and Asuna jumps to his defense quite calmly, saying that he wouldn’t have been much of a help anyways. Kirito looks as if he’d wilted. Eugeo pats him on the back, laughing and telling him that it was okay that he was late. Asuna shares the remainder of the holiday outfits with the latecomers, and soon, everyone is festively dressed.

The little log cabin looks splendid. You give Silica and Lisbeth a thumbs’ up for how nice the tree looks. The coffee and dinner tables both look grand, and they’d been filled with holiday-themed goodies, both traditional and ALO-specific treats. Asuna and Kirito said they’d paid for all of it. You think about how much yrd this all cost, and then you immediately put that thought out of your mind. They wouldn’t want you to think about that—they wanted everyone to have fun and spread cheer.

“Shall we propose a toast?” Agil suggests.

Lisbeth picks up a champagne glass and holds it in the air.

“Yeah, a toast!” she says. “To another year of successful questing!”

Kirito nods and picks up a glass of his own. You follow suit, and the others aren’t that far behind.

“It’s been a long year of adjusting,” he says. “But we’ve all come to appreciate this world as our own as much as the world we were born in. This holiday season, let’s just be grateful that we can be ourselves in VRMMOs freely.”

Sinon rolls her eyes.

“And cheers to the increased drop rate for the holiday event,” he throws in at the end.

Lisbeth snorts and starts laughing.

“Kiritooo,” she says. “Be serious!”

Asuna jumps in before Kirito could make things any less serious.

“Alright, everyone!” she says. “We’ve got the savory foods ready on the big table and the sweet ones are in here on the coffee table! Please, do, take as much as you like! There’s plenty for a few more rounds of completely filled plates! And drinks are in the kitchen!”

Not a word more needed to be said. Everyone hurries to grab a plate, and you find yourself trying to decide what all to try. The traditional treats could be found offline, but they were sure to be great, since Asuna most likely made them with her high cooking skill. On the other hand, the ALO holiday-themed treats were probably unique and interesting in their own right, and you’d never be able to recreate those in the real world—at least, not without some help from a decent cook friend, that is. In the end, you try to take a little bit of everything. After all, your virtual stomach doesn’t fill up the same way your real one did. You’d be safe trying as much food as possible.

You take a seat on the long futon in the living area, seated between Lisbeth and Sinon. Lisbeth, like you, has filled up her plate with everything she could fit on it, while Sinon has selected a few things and separated them evenly on her plate. You look across the room to see Kirito with an equally stuffed-looking plate in his usual place in the rocking chair, and Yui is seated on his head eagerly downing a gingerbread cookie. Asuna sits down beside them in the chair, and across from you, Leafa, Alice, and Silica take up the opposite futon. Klein and Agil have cornered Eugeo to ask him questions about life in the real world. Everyone seems excited and talkative.

“So, are you ready for the big New Year’s Eve quest?” Lisbeth asks you.

Nodding, you smile at her and tell her you’re making sure to have the whole night clear in order to come and complete it.

“It’s gonna be great!” she exclaimes.

Sinon chuckles and shakes her head.

“I think the eggnog is getting to her head, don’t you?” she asks.

You laugh and shake your head. Lisbeth is always easily excitable at these kinds of gatherings. You’ve been with this group long enough to know it’s just the spirit of being together that gets her going. You ask them if they’ve got any holiday plans with their families. Sinon is staying by herself. Lisbeth’s family is throwing a big gift exchange party, which apparently is mostly gag gifts for laughs. In turn, they ask you what you’ve got planned, and you tell them what your family plans to do and which parts you’re excited for and which you aren’t.

Asuna comes over and asks you if you’d like a refill on your drink. You nod and thank her as she pours you some more. It’s warm and smells delicious. It isn’t what you were drinking before, but you’re excited to drink it. Bringing it to your lips, you taste something spiced with a little tinge of apple. It’s a bit like a cider. Lisbeth sees the look on your face and excitedly leans over to ask Asuna for some of the drink. The drink, which Asuna calls Undine Spiced Wine, is a big hit with everyone in the group. By the end of the night, there’s not a drop left.

No one wants to leave, of course. There’s a bit of chatter—maybe on the actual date of the holiday, there’ll be a gift exchange. The rules are simple; the item has to cost two thousand yen or less. Kirito says everyone can meet at his house. Anyone who hasn’t been before should text him for the address. As your friends start to log out, you tell them to have a happy holiday as you tell each one goodbye. Finally, it’s just you, Asuna, and Kirito there. They turn to you and ask when you’re planning to log out. You tell them you don’t want the holiday party to end.

“Don’t worry, it’s not really the end,” Kirito says. “We’re just pausing to sleep before resuming at my place in a few days. You’ve got the address, right?”

You shake your head. You’ve only ever met up with them online.

“Oh, my bad!” Kirito says. “I’ll text it to you as soon as I log out. I look forward to seeing you! Bring something really fun! I know I’m hoping Klein will open the gag gift I’m bringing!”

Asuna jabs him in the ribcage.

“Kirito-kun!” she says. “You bring something nice!”

You laugh and thank him, telling them both that you’ll see them at school. You log out and return to your bedroom, hearing only the running heat. It sounds like your parents aren’t home just yet. You take off your Amusphere and roll over to see your phone lit up with the message from Kirito. It’s his address. You smile and clutch the phone to your chest.

The holidays have only just begun.


End file.
